Twisting machine



Dec. 15, 1931. M. LEDUc 1,837,052

TWISTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 25, 1930 21 U 20 r* A 22 12 j 16 24 M \\\l Patented Dec. 15, 1931 UNITED STATES MARCEL LEDUG, or PARIS,` FRANCE TWISTING- MACHINE Application filed August 25, 1930, Serial No. 477,774, and in France October 18, 1928.

means are `provided for twisting togetherV pairs of conductors and like members.

In the usual type of twisting machines employed in the twisting together of pairs ofV conductors and like members, the latter are lo wound round drums carried by revolving frames mounted on plates which are driven through sets of gear wheels by a common` transmission shaft. A different pitch of twist may be obtained for each of the pairs l5 of conductors or the like by giving the sets of gear wheels, corresponding to the different frames, a different number of teeth, so that the frames revolve at different speeds.

The present invention has for its object an 2U arrangement whereby two different pitches of twist may be obtained indiiferently on one or the other frame.

According to the invention, the pitches of twist of the pairs of conductors or the like may be permuted, during the manufacture, by means of an arrangement whereby the driving gear of the machine is permuted at suitably chosen moments. This is effected by means of a symmetrical arrangement with reference to the driving shaft thereof, whereby the speeds of rotation of the twisting frames are permuted, at will, by throwing one set of gears into engagement and another set of gears out of engagement.

A feature of the arrangement according to the invention is that, the frames having the same function, the machine is symmetrical with reference to the transmissionshaft and that a common control may be easily provided for imparting the two necessary speeds to each frame.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, examples of permuting arrangements for the gearing of atwisting 'u machine according to the invention are described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures 1 and 2 show one method of lnterchanging the driving gears of the twisting frames.

Figure 3 is a modification of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a section of a part of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3.

Figure 5 shows diagrammatically a suitable lever arrangement for controlling the permutation of the driving gears for the twisting frames.

With reference to Figs. 1 and 2, according to one example of a permuting arrangement Y according to the invention, the gear wheels 16 and 17 are mounted on a shaft 18 slidable within Va hollow shaft 19, Yconnected to the v gear wheel 12. The position of this sliding shaft 1S determines the speed of rotation of the shaft 2O driving the frame 6 of the twistingvmachine. 1When the shaft 18 is in the lower position, the gear wheel 17 engages with the gear wheel 21 which transmits the speed to the shaft 20 and thus to the frame 6 of the machine. Vhen the shaft 18 is in the upper position, the gear wheel 17- is thrown out of gear and the speed transmitted to the shaft 2O by means of the gear wheel 16 which is then in gear with the gear wheel 22 fixed on the shaft 20.

The machine being symmetrical with reference to the transmission shaft,the working of the parts allotted to the frame 7 is identical with that of the parts allotted to 6.

The gear wheels 16 and 28 or 17 and 24 may be thrown simultaneously into gear by means of a controllingarrangement 34--37, operating as shown in Fig. 5, and the operation of thecontrolling lever of this arrangement at. appropriate moments is thus sufficient to cause the permutation of the pitches of twist of the two pairs of conductors.

As shown in Fig. 5, the above controlling arrangement comprises suitable lever devices 34 articulated by means of two sleeves 35 and 36 on the transmission shaft and connected at the other end to the gear wheels 17 and 23 respectively, and throwing into and out of engagement of these latter members respectively, and vice versa, is effected by throwing the operating lever 37 to the left or to the right. In the drawings, the operating lever 37 is shown thrown to the left, the gear wheel 17 being in and the gear wheel 23 out of position for engagement.

With reference to Figs. 3 and 4, the two different Speeds for the frame 6 are obtained by means of a gear wheel 25, having driving members 26, and a shaft 20 carrying a ratchet wheel 27, as shown in Fig. 4.

IVhen the highest speed of rotation of the shaft 20 is desired, the gear wheel 28 'is thrown into engagement with the gear wheel 29 fixed on the shaft 20. The gear wheel 25, driven by the gear wheel 30, turns less quickly than the gear wheel 29 so that the driving members 26 slide over the ratchet wheel 27. To pass to the lowest speed, the gear wheel 28 is thrown out of gear; this Ypermits the gear wheel 30, engaging with the gear wheel 25, to drive Vthe shaft 2() by means of the driving members 26 on the wheel 25, which members engage with the ratchet wheel 27.A

An identical arrangement is adopted lfor the parts connected-to the frame 7.

The gear wheel 28 may be thrown out of gear and the gear wheel 31 thrown into gear, or conversely, the gear wheel 28 thrown into ear and the gearwheel 3l thrown out of gear,

y means of a lever device similar to the device 34 (Fig. 5) used with the arrangement according to Fig. l, and the operation of the lever 37 is thus suiiicient again to effect, at appropriate moments, the permutation of the pitches of twist of the two pairs.

The above described arrangements may be put under manual or automatic control.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are not limited to the application thereof to the manufacture of electric cables. In the manufacture of electric cables, however, particularly cables yfor use in tele-phone communication systems, it is usual practice to twist together two pairs of conductors, each with a different pitch of twist, to form a quad. The twisting together of pairs of conductors having a different pitch of twist has been found, however, 'to have a deleterious effect in the phantom circuit of the quad, and this disadvantage may be avoided, as disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 397 ,715, by permuting the pitches of twist of the pairs of conductors forming the quad, at suitably chosen points, during the manufacture thereof. It has been found that the apparatus herein described is particularly advantageous for carrying out the above method of protection as it replaces advantageously the cutting and crossing when re-joining of the pairs of conductors, which latter method necessitates the making of joints and the reversing of the colours of the conductors.

It is also to be understood that the invention herein is not limited to the details of construction described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but comprises within its range all means for carrying out the invention which are within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim 1. A twisting machine comprising the combination of a twisting mechanism comprising twisting frames, driving means for driving each of said twisting frames, said driving means being driven from a common driving shaft and symmetrically arranged with regard to said driving shaft, and means for permuting said driving means of said twisting frames, said means comprising two driving members on either side of said driving shaft adapted to drive said driving means of said twisting frames and arranged to be thrown alternately into and'out of engagement therewith to permute the speeds Yof rotation of said twisting frames.

2. A twisting machine comprising a plurality oftwisting frames, driving means for driving each of said twisting `fra-mes, a common shaft for driving said driving means, and powertransinitting means interposed between said shaft and each of said driving ytwisting together conductors forming said cable, a common driving shaft from which saidtwisting frames are driven, and means for connecting said driving shaft to said .twisting frames of said twisting mechanism,

to drive said twisting frames, said means being symmetrical with regard to said driving shaft and comprising a plurality of driving members on either side of said driving shaft arranged r.to drive said twisting frames of said twisting mechanism and to be alternately thrown into and out of engagement Vtherewith to permute the speeds of rotation of said twistingframes.

4. In apparatus for manufacturing an electric cable, the combination of a twisting mechanism comprising a plurality of twisting frames for twisting together conductors forming said cable, a common driving shaft for driving said twisting frames, and means symmetrical with regard to said driving shaft for connecting said driving shaft to said twisting mechanism to drive said twisting frames, said means comprising, on either side of said driving shaft, a hollow shaft driven by said driving shaft, a second shaft slidable within said hollow shaft, and driving members carried on either end of said second shaft arranged to engage alternately with corresponding members carried by each frame shaft of said twisting mechanism, said engagement of said members being determined by the position of said slidable shaft within said hollow shaft.

5. In apparatus for manufacturing an electric cable, the combination of a twisting mechanism comprising a plurality of twisting frames for twisting together conductors forming said cable, a com-mon driving shaft for driving said twisting frames, and means symmetrical with regard to said driving shaft for connecting said driving shaft to said twisting frames and driving said frames, said means comprising, on either side of said driving shaft, a hollow shaft driven by said driving shaft, a second shaft slidable within said hollow shaft, driving members carried on either end of said second shaft arranged to engage with corresponding members carried by each frame shaft of said twisting mechanism, when in position for operation and means for alternately throwing into engagement, on either side of said driving shaft,

oppositely disposed driving members carried by said second shaft to permute the speeds of rotation of said twisting frames.

6. A twisting machine comprising the combination of a twisting mechanism comprising twisting frames, a driving shaft for driving said twisting mechanism, a hollow shaft on either side of and geared to said driving shaft, a slidable shaft within each hollow shaft, gear wheels mounted at either end of said slidable shafts arranged to engage with gear wheels mounted on the frame shafts of said twisting mechanism, when in position for operation and controlling means comprising a lever arrangement for simultaneously altering the positions of said slidable shafts within said hollow shafts and throwing oppositely disposed gear wheels, on either side of said driving shaft, into engagement with the corresponding gear wheels on said frame shafts, to permute the speeds of rotation of said twisting frames.

7. A twisting machine, Vcomprising a twisting mechanism, a transmission shaft, and means for driving said mechanism from said shaft at different speeds, as desired, to cause the permutation of the pitches of twist imparted by said twisting mechanism, said means comprising a plurality of transmission systems interposed between said shaft and mechanism, and means for rendering operative desired ones of said systems, and the others inoperative, selectively.

8. A twisting machine, comprising a plurality of twisting frames, a common shaft, and means for driving each of said frames from said shaft at different speeds, as desii-ed, to cause the permutation of the pitches of twist imparted by said-frames, comprising a plurality of transmission systems interposed between said shaft and each of said frames, and means for rendering operative desired ones of said systems between said shaft and each frame, and the others inoperative, selectively.

-9. A twisting machine comprising a plurality of twisting frames, driving means for driving each of said twisting frames, a common shaft for driving said driving means, said driving means being symmetrically arranged with respect to said shaft, and power transmitting means interposed between said shaft and each of said driving means, comprising, in each instance, a bodily movable member, said transmitting means being positioned to drive said driving means at one speed when said bodily movable member is in one position and at a different speed when it is in a different position.

10. A twisting machine comprising the combination of a twisting mechanism comprising twisting frames, a common driving shaft for driving said twisting frames, a second shaft situated on either side of said driving shaft and driven thereby, driving members at either end of said second shaft, one of which driving members, on either side of said driving shaft, is in permanent engagement with a corresponding member carried by each of the frame shafts, and the other of which driving members, on either side of said driving shaft, is arranged to be moved alternately into and out of engagement with a second member carried by each of said frame shafts, a ratchet device, carried by each of said frame shafts, in such connection with said permanently driven member thereon that the movement of said latter member is rendered ineffective to rotate said frame shafts when the second of said members of said sec ond shafts are moved into engagement to rotate said frame shafts, and means for simultaneously throwing said second driving members into engagement on one side of said common driving shaft and out of engagement on the other side thereof, in turn, to permute the speeds of rotation of the said twisting frames.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

MARCEL LEDUC. 

